427 replies to this topic

[starlight]

I was unsure about the bodycolour winscreen surround, but it actually looks rather good! Keep up the excellent work!

[theolodian]

I was unsure about the bodycolour winscreen surround, but it actually looks rather good! Keep up the excellent work!

Cheers. Yeah, I'm happy with how the surround turned out. I wouldn't have bothered if it came in silver, but I didn't want to leave it black.

[theolodian]

Just a couple little things done today . . .































Another huge to Vocky for today. It was an immense help having someone who knew not only how everything goes on, but all of the panel gaps, etc.

[Zoobeef]

Its almost a full car

[vocky]

I think the vx was happy to get it's doors, clam and bonnet back on, they all went on without a hitch and aligned almost instantly - yes that was a pleasant surprise

[theolodian]

Not happy enough to stop leaking though. O/S rad hose still leaking with no pressure in the system. Oh well.

[Duncan VXR]

Good stuff guys was with you in spirit while putting mine back together The fact they all lined up is a very nice bonus DG

[theolodian]

What I find interesting about all of this is that when we got the last major pieces together my main sentiment was 'that's it?'. It was anti-climactic. It wasn't until several hours later that it began to sink in and I started getting excited. Then I put a thread on the main discussion board to solicit more responses. I put it down to a difference between hope and reality. It looks really good, but there is always that sense of finality in that it won't get much better. There has always been that feeling of progress towards a goal, and now that you can see the light at the end of the tunnel you can see the stones flying off the lorry coming the other way.

[Whiteboy]

I can see where your coming from tbh, but just take a read through your blog from the start and sit back and be proud of your finished artical - until the tuning bug stings you. Steve

[theolodian]

I can see where your coming from tbh, but just take a read through your blog from the start and sit back and be proud of your finished artical - until the tuning bug stings you.

Steve

Cheers. Yeah, I read back through the whole thing 6 weeks ago and it was pretty cool.

I have been really careful to keep mod fever at bay during all of this because of costs. I was thinking through it last night and I think that I have only spent about £1,250 more due to upgraded parts than what I would have needed to spend anyway.

However, I am still on the OE airbox and exhaust so as soon as it is back on the road it is time to start saving up.

[Duncan VXR]

LOL the amount of time you have spent getting it together you are not going to want to work on it for a long time Chop chop nearly there

[theolodian]

OK, headlights and tail lights in. However, something is wrong with the wiring of the switches so need to sort that out. Door lock buttons are in, but of course I can't find one of the pushrods. First real interior trim bit is in, the most important one, the cupholder! I tried to fix the coolant leak today, but couldn't jack the car up safely by myself any more. Can't get the jack under the front, and needed to lift it too far on the one side to be safe. Will have to get more organized about this now. Need to hoover the inside and the boot, and pressure wash the boot mat and the under trays.

[theolodian]

Another milestone reached today . . . work area cleared out! Hopefully take it home soon and do the last interior bits there.

[techieboy]

Now that really is an impressive sight and testament to the progress you've made.

[theolodian]

Cheers Techie!

Here's another one. This might not last long, it is looking like rain. I can't roll up the windows, and I wouldn't be able to open the driver's door from the outside if I did.

[techieboy]

This might not last long, it is looking like rain.

Just started hammering down in Bedford.

[theolodian]

Cleaned the arch liners last night, well got the worst of it off. Installed the rear trim panel and speakers today. No one mentioned that the Hetrz speakers have bigger tabs. That got a bit messy, cutting the tabs to size. If I had known before I could have been prepared for it, but didn't have time to go faffing around. At least I have tunes now. All I need to do to bolt the seats down is the headrest covers, a little cleaning, and double-checking the wiring running along the gearshift mechanism. The main things that I need to sort out next are rework issues. Coolant leak, rear brake lines, brakes are still very soft, raise the ride height, secure the battery, and the broken bonnet pin.

[theolodian]

This time I owe a big thanks to DuncanVXR for helping finish off the last of the dirty projects. We got the rear brake lines swapped over and bled. It turns out that it was a good thing that we only jacked up the rear of the car, a huge pocket of air came out and I finally have a hard brake pedal! We also got the rear arch liners in. but of course the rivnuts that go into the boot floor are trashed, I swear they were fine when I took it apart - or maybe they just weren't rusted completely solid like everything else. We raised the ride height from 100/110 to 132/138 as a ballpark approximation of stock ride height. That was a major faff spinning the spring seats that many times! At least it still looks pretty good at the new ride height. I don't think that I will be taking it all the way back down to 100/110. That was low! We replaced the other rad hose. It is such a pain to keep the pipe from sliding back so that you can get the hose on. It is on now, and a lot tighter than the old one. Hopefully there won't be another puddle under it in the morning! We got the front and middle undertrays on, but we ran out of time to do the rear one. It was about 10pm and the womenfolk were getting restless. We also didn't get the front arch liners in or the VIN stamped, but both of those can be done later. Separately, the headrests, seats, and seatbelts are all in now. I have also made a better effort at routing the wiring along the gearshift mechanism, but hopefully there is still room for improvement. A fair bit of interior trim is now done, but there is still quite a bit left to do. There are a fair few little jobs left to do still. Many of them are sorting out things that didn't work quite right the first time, including things like the rear arch liners from tonight. Nonetheless, It is ready to come home tomorrow! I have a trailer scheduled and everything, so by the end of the day tomorrow it should be home. Then I can faff around with these last piddly bits, and most importantly apply for the IVA.

[Duncan VXR]

Dude you can say they were getting restless again mine was real mad when I got in - still in the dog house this morning lol Shame as if would have been nice to do a few more hrs and finish a few more little things off the list Have to say the car is lokking REALLY good in the flesh and pics dont do it justice - I was scared to wortk on it It is the little jobs that take time - especially when you fix the problems vaux created, worth the effort though Theo Oh and you may have guessed on the way home the ka lights were not the best for lanes you don't know and overtaking at night sure there is 49bhp in there somewhere - like the fact you could move over and see past all 3 cars clearer than me to make a safe overtake DG

[theolodian]

It went home today.